


Rest

by mariadperiad20



Series: ATLA Adventures [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambassador Sokka (Avatar), Exhaustion, Feels, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), zuko needs sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:48:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25420384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariadperiad20/pseuds/mariadperiad20
Summary: Ambassador Sokka needs to take better care of Firelord Zuko. After all, it was the two of them against half the advisors in the Palace. And a decent amount of the general population. And assassinators. And... well. Yeah. It's a lot, sometimes too much. Right now, definitely too much.aka: Zuko needs a nap, and Sokka needs to rethink his priorities.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: ATLA Adventures [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795180
Comments: 10
Kudos: 398





	Rest

Sokka was exhausted.

Everyone in Fire Nation were such _morning_ people. The sun would touch the horizon, and the entire city would come alive in an instant - the sounds of life filling the air.

Sokka… Sokka was decidedly _not_ an early riser.

But that didn’t stop him from being expected at meetings. Zuko - Firelord Zuko, fancy title - was considerate enough to schedule the stuff he had to be at later in the day, when Sokka was actually closer to waking up, but, every now and then, Sokka had to be at some atrociously early council.

Which is why he sat, blinking blearily at the stack of papers in front of him, and trying to contain a yawn as an advisor blathered away something about trading. Normally, he wouldn’t bother to be so courteous, but this advisor was actually one of Zuko’s hires, so he felt like he should be supportive. After all, Zuko had had a hard enough time finding those loyal to himself- Sokka had heard rumor from the servants that there’d been four assasination attempts this month, although Zuko would never admit as much to him himself. Also, it sounded like an undercount, in Sokka’s opinion.

Zuko nudged Sokka under the table with a foot, waiting until Sokka looked up at him to ask stiffly, “Ambassador Sokka, Advisor Song was curious about your perspective on the inclusion of the Northern Water Tribe in the reparations process.” His expresson was tight, displeasure evident on his face.

Oh, right. Wait, _what_? Sokka turned to look at the advisor, who was looking at him not unsympathetically - it was a relatively well known fact that Water Tribe weren’t big on morning activities. But upending weeks of negotiations with something like this, early in the morning, and - judging by Zuko's expression - not something run past the Firelord first? Sokka felt the paper in front of him crunch under his palm, but he did his best to keep his voice even.

“Um, I think that it's a creative, but faulty idea - Northern Water Tribe were affected to an extent. However, Southern Water Tribe was systematically dismantled by Fire Nation, and the priority should be the recovery of the missing members, and reinvestment into our culture. Also, we don't have a Northern Water Tribe representative here. I can't speak for them.”

“So you suggest removing Northern Water Tribe from the proposal?” One of the other advisors - not one of Zuko’s, Sokka noticed with a frown - “So much for loyalty, I suppose.”

Sokka opened his mouth in retort - he wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he would think of it as he said it, he was sure. Before he could speak, however, Zuko spoke.

“Surely you are not insulting my honored guest, in my own council room, Wang?” He asked smoothly, tone dripping with cold.

The advisor bowed, “Of course not, Firelord. I intended no insult.”

“If S- Ambassador Sokka took no insult, then it’s fine. Did you?” Zuko asked, turning to look at Sokka with an unreadable expression on his face.

Sokka wasn’t sure what Zuko’s angle was - he hated not knowing what was going on - but another gentle nudge from Zuko under the table galvanized him into action.

“No, no offense was taken. After all, it's not removing the Northern Water Tribe - it's keeping the two sets of negotiations separate, as intended."” Sokka replied, watching Zuko’s expression carefully. “Why? Were you offended?”

Zuko’s face twitched - it looked almost like guilt, an expression well-acquainted with his face - before he seemed to force it into a neutral expression. Not entirely successfully, as that odd little look was still present, but Sokka elected to ignore that.

“Certainly not.” Zuko replied, before saying, firmly, “It seems that the Ambassador would prefer to keep the two Tribes separate during the repartions process. Something shared by myself, I might add.” The last sentence seemed to shift the atmosphere in the room almost instantaneously.

“Very well.” Song said glumly, sitting down.

Zuko turned his attention back to her fully, expression clearing. “Song, can you go back to the drafting table for Northern Tribe? Their Ambassador is still in Ba Sing Se, so we’ll need to see if they want to elect a second, or if…”

Sokka zoned back out, eyes barely focused on the papers in front of him. This was all old stuff that'd been in the works, he didn't need a recap. Still, he was feeling a bit betrayed - his conversations with Zuko had indicated that the two tribes would be treated as separate, why there was even discussion on them being combined seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere.

Coupled with the fact that it was an early meeting… Sokka couldn’t help but feel like maybe someone was trying to pull the rug on him.

Judging by the glances Zuko kept throwing him, maybe he wasn’t alone in that feeling.

The meeting drew to a close, made easier by the fact that the Firelord essentially rejected the idea in its entire - Sokka knew enough to know that his statement only held weight because Zuko backed him up on it. There was still a bit too much ‘patriotism’ in the Fire Nation for Sokka to really have any authority there.

As the advisors trailed out, Sokka stopped Zuko, one hand on his arm. “Hey, can we talk?” He asked, voice low.

Zuko’s eyes fixed on Sokka’s, piercing through him with such a casual glance.

“Yes.” He said, “Let’s… go back to my quarters. I have some documents I left there.”

“Okay.” Sokka agreed.

The walls had ears here - and those ears were not necessarily loyal to the new Firelord. Sokka idly wondered, at what point a Firelord stopped being the ‘new’ one. Zuko’d had the job for a few months now - and it wasn’t like the old guy was coming back anytime soon.

Not that that stopped the… well, they called themselves ‘patriots’, which was dumb, because they weren’t patriotic to… well, the actual ruler? It was a stupid name, but too many people seemed to be aligned with it for Zuko to ever truly relax.

Or for Sokka to, either, actually. The Fire Nation patriots weren’t fond of his presence, or his ‘influence’ on their new leader.

Sokka had suggested, after some protests of his presence, but before the assassinations really kicked into high gear, that Zuko rethink having him there.

“I mean, it seems like if I wasn’t here they’d be more down with you as the Firelord? Maybe the patriots would die down.”

Zuko had shook his head. “No. Absolutely out of the question. You’re far too important here - besides, they’ll protest no matter what I do. They are loyal to the Firelor-” Zuko had cut himself off, closing his eyes briefly. “They are loyal to Ozai. That won’t change by my refusing to have you by my side.”

Then, his eyes reopened, filling with a concern that Sokka hadn’t expected. “Unless… you _want_ to leave?”

Sokka had been shaking his head before Zuko had even finished asking. “No way, man. There’s no way I’m abandoning you. You’d have to kick me out first.” Then, grinning. “And, if you try, I’ll make Katara come over here and chew you out about it.”

Zuko had laughed - it seemed a bit forced, but the odd tension in his shoulders had eased just the same.

That tension was present now, as Zuko walked to his quarters, giving a brief nod to the guards stationed outside of it before closing the door.

The moment it clicked shut, Sokka asked, a touch to loudly, “What the _hell_ , Zuko?”

“I know.” Zuko replied stiffly.

“No, no, what the actual-? What? What was that? Why would we combine tribes? Our cultures are super different, I- we’re not interchangeable just because of our bending- I-”

“I know.” Zuko repeated, teeth gritted. “Believe me, Sokka, I’m just as… unpleasantly surprised as you.”

“Oh really?” Sokka asked, “They’re _your_ advisors!”

Zuko raised an eyebrow.

“Oh.” Sokka’s anger faded, slightly. “They were _your_ advisors.”

“Yes.” Zuko said quietly, shoulders slumping - suddenly looking so defeated. He sat down at the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. “Song was one of mine. But it’s all so suspicious.” Then, laughing emptily, “Of course, everything is suspicious to me, now. Can’t even go to a meeting without feeling like I’m going to get attacked.”

Sokka didn’t respond. Zuko had been shrugging off all of it - the assassinations, the distrust, the patriots, the war hawks - seemingly without a care. He had said, repeatedly, that the priority was restoring the Fire Nation’s honor and culture, and that the people dragging their feet would have to deal with it.

But it seemed that it had become too much.

Sokka knew that Zuko had been shielding him from a lot of the darkness lurking around the Palace - Zuko’s show up to meetings with new bandages or bruises from assasination attempts without a comment, but engaged in an _actual_ screaming match with the head guard after Sokka had been jumped in a random street - outside of the Palace, for the record - about the importance of Sokka’s detail actually following him.

Never mind the fact that Sokka took down the, what? Mugger? With a bonk on the head courtesy of his boomerang, and went on his way. It was only because another advisor had been around Zuko had even heard about it.

“Hey, Zuko, it’s gonna be alright. You’ve got the final say anyway, and it’s possible Song just actually thought it’d be more effecient. We don’t know that she’s gone patriotist.”

“Patriotic.” Zuko corrected automatically, “And I don’t think she has. Just… someone scheduled a meeting in the morning about Water Tribe, and neglected to inform me of the contents of it.”

“Yeah.” Sokka patted Zuko on the shoulder awkwardly, “I’m sorry, man. This whole thing sucks.”

Zuko looked up at him. His expression, a mix of bitter anger and hollow exhaustion, softened slightly. His eyes were gentle, but they always seemed to be able to just… stare straight into Sokka. They were piercing in the most literal sense, and he felt like Zuko could see into his actual being.

Sokka couldn’t help but wonder what Zuko saw in him that made him want him to stay - he was a decent person, sure, but it wasn’t like he was so exceptional that it warranted the trust that Zuko placed in him.

Zuko kept staring at Sokka - he had a sneaking suspicion the Firelord wasn’t even aware of doing it. Finally, though, his gaze dropped, and Sokka pretended he didn’t feel a stab of longing at that.

“I’m just tired.” Zuko admitted quietly, “I’m just so _tired_.”

“I know.” Sokka said, sitting down next to Zuko. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“I just… I want to rest. From all of this, I want to just be able to rest and not have to worry.”

“You can rest now.” Sokka offered, not even entirely sure what he was saying. But it felt right. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. You can sleep, and I’ll keep watch.”

Zuko turned to look at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Of course.” Sokka shrugged. “What else am I here for, right?”

“To… watch me sleep?” Zuko asked, confused.

“To help you out, Zuko!” Sokka nudged him gently, “Not all of my Ambassador duties are about helping fix my tribe and the Fire Nation. I’m here for you, too. However you need me.”

Zuko was staring at him intently, and Sokka felt a twist of something that felt a little bit too much like longing, adding quickly, “And right now it seems like you need to take a nap. So… yeah.”

“Yeah.” Zuko replied, looking away - a hint of red showing up on his face, as he pulled his hair out of its bun, letting it fall down around him.

“Wake me up in 20 minutes?” Zuko asked.

“Do you have a meeting?”

“No, my day’s free, actually. I just… don’t want to take up too much of your day.”

“Oh.” Sokka decided to let Zuko sleep for as long as he needed - the poor guy looked dead on his feet.

Zuko flopped down onto his bed, half-curled in on his side, facing in the direction of Sokka, and the door. His brilliant eyes closing almost instantaneously, the exhaustion behind them weighing too heavily to even fight the pull of sleep.

Sokka couldn’t help but stare.

Zuko’s hair had consistently been growing out - but he hadn’t realized just how _long_ it had gotten. Easily past his shoulders at this point, it was dark black and looked so silky. He fought the urge to reach out and touch it, instead pulling out his boomerang and fiddling with it. If he didn’t occupy his hands, he was sure his hands would migrate to determine just how soft that hair truly was.

He couldn’t seem to tear his eyes off of Zuko, though, despite his most half-hearted attempts to do so. Without the composure, without the hair done up, without the bright eyes staring into him, Zuko looked far too much like the exhausted boy he was, rather than the Firelord title he held. His robes, despite being made to fit him, seemed far too big for him - Zuko seemed to be drowning under the layers, much too young for its weight.

Make no mistake, of course, Sokka thought Zuko looked absolutely gorg- regal, absolutely regal, in his robes. But right now… Sokka just wanted to pull Zuko into a hug and never let go. He was so painfully young.

Sokka felt comfortable in his Ambassadorship, most of the time. With Zuko at his back, it was easy to feel comfortable. But, Sokka realized, he hadn’t been doing the most to make sure Zuko knew he had _his_ back, in the same capacity. Or, even, Sokka realized guiltily, he _hadn’t_ really had Zuko’s back enough. Not if Zuko was so exhausted, so consistently being swallowed up by the title, the work, the pressure.

Sokka’s hand brushed a piece of hair out of Zuko’s face. He barely registered the fact that it was, in fact, very soft, before he pulled his hand back, instead rubbing at his face, irritated with himself. He had been so focused on the logistics of reparations to the Southern Water Tribe and restoration of the Fire Nation lately, that he had forgotten the main reason he’d come here.

Zuko.

Looking at Zuko now, framed in a halo of black hair and drowning in the red of his robes, Sokka couldn’t imagine how he had ever forgotten it.

**Author's Note:**

> i legit just had the super-specific mental image of that final line stuck in my head, but i can't ~art~ for anything so i wrote this fic instead. yay me?
> 
> comments r super appreciated! :D


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